Ehh, certainly we've exceeded expectations and they haven't lived up to it, but I wouldn't go as far to say we're better.

I'm a little concerned about Oakland next week because they were beating Illinois into the second half last week as well...

"I was kind of disappointed in myself to run a 10.44 (100m), but I will accept that. Running the No. 2 time in the nation is pretty good. I was trying to run a 10.3, but there was strong wind." -- Denard Robinson

They started the game with a women's ball for the first 7 minutes of the game until one of the Oakland player started complaining about the ball being too light. When they found out about it, they switched it back to the men's ball and Illini proceed to get hot. Maybe Oakland player should've shut up about it since they were winning. lol

It's hard to gain anything from the game in which they used a women's ball.

Unfortunately I think State will probably just do what they do every year: have a subpar November and December and then run roughshod through the Big Ten tourney and do the zombie thing in March Madness where they just....won't.....die.

...physically these guys look like they don't have the effort to make it work or something (i.e. something just feels off). Every Michigan State team starts slow, but this slow start feels different then others.

I'm "chalking up" MSU's lazy play as their reaction to realizing that Izzo will leave them for a good NBA job. It's hard to sell "Spartan for Life" when you were one LBJ decision away from jumping to Cleveland.

MSU is now in the area athletes refer to as, "I thought I was giving 100 percent but I really wasn't." Izzo used to be really good at developing that area between an athlete thinking he is giving 100 percent and really giving 100 percent. I think he will have a harder time now. When Izzo returned to MSU, I said they will be a 5/12 upset victim in the tournament. I have seen nothing to make me change my mind.

While I agree with the general sentiment that people shouldn't read much into this game, this MSU team reminds me of those Maurice Ager-Shannon Brown-Paul Davis teams that had a ton of hype but struggled to live up to them. They'll make the tournament, but they are definitely a step slow so far this season.

I think Appling and Payne's offseason activities may have left them with tired legs, explaining the loss of that step so far. If they can keep themselves out of the women's dorms, they'll be fine as the season wears on.

We have a 73% chance of beating Oakland and Oakland is the #86 team in the country. UTEP is #80, so that's the level of talent we're roughly looking at. FWIW, Utah is #116. Clemson is #46...oh yeah, we're #67. I'd put us in the 40's right now, but I guess we'll just have to wait until the Big Ten season kicks off to find out.

Man, when you look at UTEP's season so far, that really sticks out as a bad loss.

Overall we're projected to finish 16-15 which I would have taken before the season but would be a little bummed at that now. Although, it feels about right doesn't it given the youth...

The UTEP game took place in a tough set of circumstances for us: playing a game less than 24 hours after a hard-fought loss to Syracuse, against one of the most experienced teams in the country. Their guys knew how to play on tired legs. We didn't.